The Rise and Fall of King Jupiter the Great
by WhatIsLifeIfYouArntLiving
Summary: The period of time between the Golden Age of Natalia and the beginning of the Green Ember. Told from the perspective of characters such as Smalls, Wilfred, and Maggie Weaver. I hope you have as much fun reading as I did writing! All rights go to S. D. Smith, the author of the wonderful Green Ember series.
1. Prologue

**Hi, I have long been a Green Ember fan, but I have only now got up the courage to actually write something. Here's hoping it won't be as terrible as I fear.**

There was a ring and clash of steel upon steel from the courtyard. The servants and warriors hurrying through the halls on one business or another ignored it, the sound was familiar to them, they had heard it many times before. Meanwhile, the two rabbits sparing in the courtyard continued their mock fight, though one was clearly winning. The tall brown rabbit twirled his sword in a bewildering arc, flashing down to send the short white ones spinning to land with a clatter some meters away. The white rabbit sighed in disappointment and bent to pick up his sword and sheath it. The brown one merely laughed, sheathing his own sword and shaking his head at his son.

"That's an old trick, Smalls, one that I've seen you block many times before, what happened this time?" The younger rabbit smiled slightly. "You do not think that you simply perform it better Father? You are much more experienced than me." Jupiter laughed again, grinning broadly. "Come now lad, I may be more experienced, but you have trained for many years, and you're getting quite good." He put on a mock look of superiority then, "Though I must admit I _am _amazing."Smalls laughed as well.

Just then a gray rabbit ran up, glancing briefly at the prince before turning to bow slightly to his king. "Your Majesty, sightings of a small pack of wolves has been spotted at the northwestern edge of the Great Wood, they do not seem like a lot of trouble, yet they could be amassing, do you want me to gather the Council?" Jupiter nodded immediately, turning apologetically to Smalls. "I'm sorry for cutting this short, and we'll continue later, but I must be going now." Smalls nodded, his smile fading briefly as he met the dark eyes of Garten Longtreader, the head ambassador. He had never liked the gray rabbit, no matter how much Jupiter trusted him, Smalls could never quite bring himself to feel anything but misgivings about him.

The young rabbit watched wistfully as his father and Garten ran off, these practice sessions with the king, with his _father_, were few and far between, but he treasured them. Yet being the ruler over all Natalia was very time-consuming, and there were times when Smalls went for a week or more without seeing his father once. He shook his head and turned toward the double doors leading inside, the frigid late November air wasn't a comfort, and he had things he'd much rather do than stand outside.

Just past the noon hour, the long, twisting corridors of the palace were filled with courtiers and messengers, some running, some walking casually, All with a place to go and something to do, more ways in which they were different Smalls supposed. He decided to head to the library in the hope of avoiding his siblings. Of course, some of them actually weren't that bad. Whitbie and Kate among them. But they were still worth avoiding, Winslow in particular.

Upon entering the library, Smalls nodded to the librarian, Master Gordan, and headed to his favorite corner. Hidden between three bookshelves, with the only entry being a small opening between the back bookshelf and the wall. Smalls crawled through the opening and sat at the desk facing the wall on the other side. A window in front of him displayed the spectacular view of a setting sun. It was the tired end of an exhausting day and Smalls was ready for sleep. He slumped in the chair, his eyes closing as he slowly drifted off.

**Well, what do you think? was it terribly wonderful? Or perhaps wonderfully terrible? (Review if you got the quote) **

**My place beside you, Melody.**


	2. Chapter 1

**Hiya! I've decided to try some POVs other than Smalls', so if the POV seems to dance around a bit, sorry, this is my first attempt at writing anything longer than an email. If Whitbie goes a bit (a lot) off character, please know that this is on purpose, because I think he must have changed quite a bit in between the Golden Age and **_**Ember Rising**_**. As for the Longtreader brothers, I've always considered Garten the oldest, Wilfred next, and Whittle last. Happy reading! :**

Somewhere in First Warren, a bell tolled. Smalls groaned and tried to block out the noise. Sunlight streamed through the window and onto his face, forcing him to open his eyes. Smalls sat up and worked to clear his head. He had meant to go back to his room the night before, but he must have fallen asleep before he could. A pounding headache and a crick in his neck was the reward for this.

Smalls suddenly sat bolt upright and leaped from the chair. Dashing through the winding halls moments later, he cursed himself for forgetting that today was the day his father left on a trip to a collection of warrens far to the south. Passing a window, he slowed to check what time it was, the sun barely peeked out from above the hills to the east, and he sighed in relief. He still had a bit of time.

Slowing to a jog now, Smalls waved to people he knew as he passed them and gave a vague nod to those he didn't. "Smalden!" Came to a shout from behind him. He sighed and turned in resignation. "Hello, Whitbie." A white and black rabbit smirked as he ran up to Smalls. "How many times have I told you to call me _Smalls_, exactly?" Smalls asked, gritting his teeth.

"Oh, I don't know, it's got to be close to a hundred by now." His older brother answered, still with that annoying smirk, "Anyway, care to help me with something?" Smalls' eyes narrowed. "None of his brothers ever involved themselves with Smalls unless there was something in it for them, so he wasn't sure whether Whitbie might just be planning a practical joke.

"How do I know I can trust you?" He asked suspiciously. Whitbie sighed and shook his head dramatically, giving Smalls a hurt look. "You do know I'm your brother, right?" Smalls wanted to say that didn't seem to matter to Whitbie when he didn't want anything from Smalls, but refrained and simply rolled his eyes. "What do you want, Whitbie?" He asked tiredly, early as it was, he hadn't had proper sleep in some time. Whitbie grinned, grabbed Smalls' hand, and started pulling him in the opposite direction of where Smalls had been originally going. Smalls cast one last glance at his destination, then turned and ran after Whitbie.

* * *

Wilfred Longtreader jogged slowly through the streets and wide lanes of First Warren, smiling wide. He had just got back from visiting his brother, Whittle, and his family. It wasn't like they lived far away, a short ten-minute walk from Wilfred's quarters in the palace. But lately, things had gotten far busier, what with the newly formed council of Seven Ambassadors, of which both Wilfred and Whittle were proud to call themselves a part of along with their older brother, Garten. In fact, Garten had just been, to unanimous consent, elected Chief Ambassador, with his younger brothers acting as his lieutenants.

His smile grew when he caught sight of a familiar face among the throng of people entering and exiting the palace. "Maggie!" He called, waving to gain her attention. A middle-aged rabbit, already showing her age, turned and smiled as Wilfred dashed up to her. "Are you coming for the council?" He asked, catching his breath. She nodded. "Yes, the king has personally asked me to attend this one, though what good will come of it I'm sure I don't know. He knows I'm dead set against it." Wilfred shrugged, "I guess we all have our opinions." privately, Wilfred was eager for the king's plan to come to fruition, though he had to admit that Maggie was right in that if the plan failed, it would take many years to build up what was lost. But there was little chance of that happening in Wilfred's mind.

"You do realize we're running late, right?" Queried a voice from the direction of the palace. They both turned to see Perkin One-Eye running up to them, grinning. Many of the crowd stopped to stare at the legendary hero. Maggie only laughed. "Come and join us, and we'll all be late together!" She called, and Perkin grinned. "I've heard that the king's going to invite Winslow to the meeting." He said, a slightly worried expression replacing his grin. Wilfred frowned and Maggie sighed in exasperation. "I mean no offense to the royal family, but isn't Winslow, I don't know, a bit… dim?" Perkin nodded, smiling, "That he is, Wilfred, but never the less, his entrance should make this meeting quite interesting, as the oldest, he no doubts believes he is the heir to the throne, even though King Jupiter has not yet bestowed the Green Ember to anybody. At least," he added. "Not publically." Wilfred sighed. "So… you're saying we should probably get down there?" Perkin nodded, checking the sun, it was completely above the hills, but not very far.

The three broke up and headed into the palace, each deep in their own thoughts.

* * *

As everyone slowly filed into the meeting room, a dark figure observed them from a corner draped in shadows. Casual glances around the room would sometimes meet with the dark, almost black eyes of the black rabbit, then quickly look somewhere else. Helmer was not there officially, "officially", he was off with a team scouting the northwest, looking for signs of a pack of wolves. Unofficially, of course, he had been asked by the king to evaluate all the personnel and lords attending this meeting. Helmer had been here for less than ten minutes and already was less than impressed. So far, several were looking like they had something to hide, which, based on their behavior and the snatches of speech Helmer had been able to catch, he would bet had something to do with the succession of the throne. Never a good thing, Helmer mused. A bunch of others huddled together in the corner nearest the door, speaking hurriedly and casting furtive glances toward Prince Winslow as if they were waiting for a signal, Helmer decided probably were planning to try and get Winslow announced as the heir, no doubt bribed by the oldest prince. The room got deathly quiet, and Helmer swiveled his eyes to see King Jupiter himself walking into the room.

Helmer frowned, scanning the room, he had a feeling someone was missing. Sure enough, Wilfred Longtreader, Maggie Weaver, and Perkin One-Eye were all absent. Helmer's frown deepened and he tried to signal the king they weren't there, but Jupiter was already starting the meeting. "All rise for the king." Intoned a deep-voiced rabbit to the right of and a little behind Jupiter. Everyone in the room rose, and Helmer's view was restricted by taller rabbits.

Where are you, Wilfred? Helmer thought desperately. The majority of their planned defense rested on Wilfred bringing up specific arguments and he was the only one who had studied the sources. This is where a back-up plan would have been useful Helmer thought, annoyed, But no, that idea is rejected. To all appearances, Helmer was completely calm and inscrutable, on the inside, he was close to storming out of the room and dragging Wilfred back with him. But that would probably get them off on the wrong foot, so he refrained. A sudden knock on the door jerked him out of his thoughts. King Jupiter frowned and called for whoever was there to come in.

The door opened to admit Wilfred, Airen, and Perkin One-Eye, all trying desperately to keep in laughter behind apologetic expressions. "Ah, you're here." King Jupiter said as if he knew exactly why they were late and fully approved of it. "May we begin now?" The three all bowed and took their seats. And the meeting finally began. Nobody noticed Helmer sigh in relief.

** Yeah... that was bad. I started off with a plan... then the plan exploded. Well, it's my first try, and every writing video I've ever watched tells me my first try is going to be trash. Not the most encouraging advice ever, but hey, it's YouTube. Anyway, please leave reviews on what you think is trash if you can, constructive criticism is the food for success! (Or so YouTube thinks...)**

** My Place Beside You, Melody**


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